Truth B Told 3.8.07: I’m Turning Japanese I Really Think So
Posted by Bayani Domingo on 03.08.2007
“Puro” is catching on quicker in the States than Hentai in a high school computer lab.
It wasn't that long ago that Lucha Libre was the "latest and greatest" fad to hit American wrestling since the advent of a top rope maneuver. Back in the mid to late 90's the WWF had brought in luchadors from Mexico as "special attractions". ECW had brought in high flyers like Psicosis, Rey Misterio Jr., and Super Crazy in order to capitalize on a trend which the WWF decided not to run with. WCW brought prominence to their cruiserweight division by stealing those and other lucha's from Mexico and bringing about a new age in wrestling which saw a new style of high flying, high risk, and innovative moves captivate the television audience. Then, it all came crashing down.
ECW stopped bringing in wrestlers from down south. The "e" last attempt at bringing in a Mexican influence brought us the self imploding Mexi-Cools that were booked as illogically as their own self destruction. WCW folded and were bought by Vince McMahon and the only real hold over was Rey Rey. But then something odd happened. New companies came to life. RoH, TNA, even the seemingly now defunct WSX started showing up and bringing in fresh new International Talent, but not from the place you'd think. Japanese wrestlers started invading the states. Of course this was more or a less a response to the "American style" of wrestling being brought over first.
In a twist of irony it was a German wrestler who from Belgium who brought the "American Style" of wrestling to Japan. Karl Gotch has been credited as being a "God of Pro Wrestling" in Japan due to his influence in shaping "Puroresu" or professional wrestling in that country. A lot of the "shoot" or "strong style" you see now is heavily influenced by what Gotch brought over from the states. "Puro" icons such as Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Hiro Matsuda, Osamu Kido, Satoru Sayama, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara have all been trained or heavily influenced by Gotch and thus have passed down their teachings to their students and so on and so forth. In the 80's American wrestlers would tour Japan to sold out stadiums. Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ric Flair and a host of others would wrestle some of the best that Japan had to offer including Giant Baba, Antonio Inoki, and the Great Muta. American wrestlers were seen as larger than life and fully embraced by the Japanese fan base. While more than a few Japanese wrestlers had a "cup of coffee" in the WWF or NWA for the most part the infatuation was mainly one sided as the American fans saw these wrestlers as side show attraction as foreigners coming into the states to try to topple their favorite performers.
Fast forward to the "Monday Night Wars". Kaientai came to ECW and then to the WWF in what was a fairly lackluster showing. Employing some fairly innovative moves and face paced action the "Juniors" spent sometime in the cruiserweight division and feuding with Val Venis over whether they did or did not in fact "choppy his pee pee". WCW brought in the Great Muta for a short while and Kaz Hayashi joined a Southern white boy in a mask and a half Korean guy as "Jung Dragons". Then they brought in Dragon Gate ace Tokyo Magnum to follow Alex Wright and Disco Inferno in his apprenticeship in becoming a "Boogie Knight". Yep, pretty underwhelming. With the except of small pushes and introductions of Ultimo Dragon and Taijiri the "e" has pretty much stayed away from Japan. Sure there have been talk of bringing in wrestlers like Gedo and Jado, and Heyman mentioned wanting to bringing some Dragon Gate talent into ECW way back when he was still in the company's semi-good graces, but that talk is just hearsay at the moment. Then again, we all remember how bringing Kenzo Suzuki over went over like gangbusters. But, I guess it's easier to bill guys as Japanese who aren't (Jimmy Yang and Yokozuna) or steal their movesets (CM Kenta) than it is to actually hire them. And NO, Funaki doesn't count…or matter…IN…..DEEED!!
TNA has brought in a few Japanese wrestlers for featured matches. Jushin Lyger and Hiroshi Tanahashi come to mind, as well as the World X Cup which tends to happen whenever TNA remembers they still have it at their disposal. Actually bringing in the top talent from Japan is difficult as working with New Japan Pro Wrestling has it's advantages and limitations. One would think that using Dragon Gate wrestlers for the next tournament would actually provide fresher and more interesting match ups, but time will tell. Almost all of the X-Division has spent at least sometime in Japan on one tour or another and it is clear their movesets have been heavily influenced. Still, TNA has yet to really capitalize on the popularity of "Puro", choosing instead to only dip a toe into the talent pool. Then again, a re-focusing on the X-Division might go a long way in recruiting that talent.
Where the newest influence is coming from is the Indy circuit as guys like Milano Collection AT and SHINGO are touring all over the country now. WSX brought in YOSHINO and Genki Horiguchi, which provided the first look that many people had at the Dragon Gate style of wrestling. FIP, PWG, even IWS:MS has brought in a wrestler or two. Hell, CHIKARA is probably more heavily influenced than anyone by ‘Puro' due to their outlandish characters and familiar Japanese comedy spots. Then we come to RoH. Who would have thought that the World Title would be in NJPW and the Tag Belts in Dragon Gate? Ari? Ari? Anyone, anyone? Ari? Anyone?
Right now Takeshi Morishima holds said World Title while Naruki Doi and SHINGO hold the Tag belts. Morishima beat one of the icons of Ring of Honor to win the belt and Doi/SHINGO beat arguably THE best tag team in wrestling today in the Briscoe Brothers. Both wins were unexpected as Homicide held his belt for less than 2 full months and the Briscoes lost their titles right after they won them. Is it possible there is something bigger in store for these titles as it seemed as if they were hot shotted out of the country out of no where? Who knows? But this firmly cements ‘Puro' as a major player in wrestling as RoH is easily one of the most important companies in the country. Don't believe me? Well let's take a quick look at some of the Japanese flavor around the wrestling world:
WWE
As I said before, the biggest contributor to the ‘puro' style has not been Funaki, who is little more than a bronzed Scotty 2 Hottie, but CM Kenta, I mean Punk. His "Muay Thai" and "MMA" style of wrestling comes mainly from his "borrowing" of KENTA's moveset. KENTA of course is one of the most popular Juniors in Pro Wrestling NOAH and in Japan in general. Speaking of MMA, remember when Sylvester Turkay character was largely based on his MMA experience? That also came largely from the Strong Style used mainly in Japan. Don't forget about such moves as the Asai moonsault, the Fujiwara armbar, the Shining Wizard, Dragon Sleeper, and a host of other moves originating from Japan. In fact, it seems like the Smackdown Tag Champions of Paul London and Brian Kendrick were trained more in Japan than they were by Shawn Michaels. For some reason, I just never saw HBK hitting a "Mushroom Stomp" or Shiranui (Sliced Bread #2), but then again, I didn't watch a lot of wrestling in 2001 so maybe I missed something.
Even some of the bigger superstars are being inadvertently influenced by puro without even realizing it. Look the US Champion, Chris Benoit who did a tour of duty as the Pegasus Kid in Japan in the 80's. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Umaga, and even Fit Finlay have spent time in Japan. Heck, even the Dr. of Thuganomics employs a variation of a move that was created in Japan, the STF. The variation being that the true version of the STF actually looks like it hurts, while John Cena basically hugs your head with his forearms gently from behind while making a "I have to make boom boom" face.
TNA
As I mentioned, TNA has brought in wrestlers as a sort of "featured attraction" or for the World X Cup. However the biggest influence comes from the X-Division who more or less utilize a lot of "Puro" style moves in their matches. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Sabin, Christopher Daniels, Senshi, Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, basically everyone save Jay Lethal and Petey Williams and a few others have done a tour in Japan at one point or another. In fact Shelley and Sabin are the current Zero Max 1 light heavyweight tag team champions. Also consider that Tomko wasn't really on the radar until he proved in Japan that he could work if given a chance.
The fast paced, high flying action is more or less a hybrid of lucha libre and Puro. But what really seems to have been influenced by Puro was the pre-Russo booking which saw matches carry on without a real Heel/Face storyline. In Japan it is common to have wrestlers work matches without that dynamic as they take their wrestling much more seriously and present it more as a legitimate sport with few if any run-ins and DQ or "Dusty" finishes. Also, the spot-spot-no sell-spot style is also indicative of both Puro/Lucha matches on occasion. Not to say there isn't psychology in Lucha/Puro matches but amongst the "Junior" divisions it is based more on athletics than on hard hitting "strong style" groundings. Though there are clearly exceptions.
RoH
Well for starters, every belt is currently around the waist of a Japanese wrestler. RoH has worked with New Japan, NOAH, and Dragon Gate in a talent exchange. The results have been positive and have contributed to not only some great matches, but also some great DVD sales, or at least as far as I know. Luckily RoH has manged to get premiere talent instead of cast offs. KENTA, Jushin Lyger, Kenta Kobashi, CIMA, Dragon Kid, etc., are not by any means second rate talent and with such talent at their disposal RoH has managed to capture even a larger audience while providing a conduit for some of their talent to get bookings overseas. Based on the improved performance from such wrestlers as Jack Evans, Roderick Strong, Matt Sydal, Kevin Steen, Nigel McGuinness, the Briscoes, etc. the talent exchange has already paid big dividends.
It's funny how the Japanese culture became so enthralled with the American culture at first. Then all of a sudden the Japanese became enthralled with the hip-hop culture, the music, the dress, hell even the hair styles. But things have certainly changed. My department right now is going through Kaizen training, which is "continuous improvement". Kaizen, Kanban, a lot of the principles of Japanese business filtered into the American business system back in the 80's and is discovering a rebirth now a day. Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, and Hideo Nomo (for the first few years) are all great examples of baseball players making the transition and succeeding. Now we have Daisuke Matsuzuka, Kei Igawa, and Akinori Iwamura breaking into the league. (Let's just forget about Hideki Irabu shall we?) Gwen Stefani introduced many of us to the Harajuku girl. In fact, how long till we get our first Harajuku Diva? I'm sure Hiroko could have been a hot piece of tail if they only gave her a chance.
In fact, you can't go to a clothing store without seeing some kind of Japanese images or language on their clothing or go to a college or beach without seeing someone with Japanese lettering tattooed on them. If they're lucky it'll even say what they think they asked the tattoo artist to put on them. I would hate to see a girl with a "tramp stamp" on them that they think says "Beautiful Princess" actually say "Toll Road Below". Hell, the shoe is now on the other foot as people are looking at not only Japanese wrestlers, but Japanese culture as inspiration for a lot of the pop culture these days. I'd like to be the first person to say…knock it off.
Look, if you can't read the writing, don't get it tattooed on your arm or ass. If you don't know how to pronounce the name of sushi, don't order it on a first date, and if you can't remember the guy's name, don't draft him on your fantasy baseball team. Not everything Japanese is the "bee's knees". *kids still say that now right?* Sure in moderation the Japanese culture can be appreciated, but let's not go overboard. I've often heard people say that RoHbots will cream themselves over anything Japanese *hey wasn't that me saying it* but sometimes it is justified. KENTA, Marifuji, Kenta Kobashi, Dragon Gate, even Morishima are all fine examples of successful marrying of the Japanese into American culture. But that's not to say you won't get a Kenzo Suzuki, Dick Togo, or Dragon Soldier B. Hell, I'd take a mediocre Joshi match over a "good" Diva match any day.
Puro is upon us people. The hybrid of American/Strong Style/Lucha Libre has made it's way to the states and I don't see a foreseeable time in which it will leave. I for one am glad that we're getting a more diverse blend in wrestling. I look forward to the World X-Cup, enjoy borrowing RoH DVDs when possible, and if Vince was serious *HA HA HA* about jazzing up the Cruiserweight and Tag Team division than a ‘puro injection' may be just what the doctor ordered. Sure Jado and Gedo may not light the world on fire, but at least it's a start. So long as they get a better shake than Ultimo Dragon did. Sheeeesh, how the hell did they blow that one? Oh right, I guess they assume everyone under 5'9" is just another Rey Misterio Jr. clone. Then again, maybe everyone under 5'4" really is? *TootTootToot MISTICO TootTootToot MISTICO*
The Truth
Without Kid Pegasus and Black Tiger, you'd never have Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero, at least not like they were. Enjoy the X-Division, but realize that without the influence of guys like Hayabusa, Jushin Lyger, and Tiger Mask you might as well be watching the "E's" cruiserweights. CM Punk can send that royalty check to KENTA any time he wants. Until the last few years the love affair between Japanese and American wrestling had been largely one sided. This dates back to when the NWA first began their ties to Japan. But now it appears to have come full circle again. Indy fans and savvy WWE/TNA fans alike are now well aware of at least a few of the more popular wrestlers, while former WWF/WCW wrestlers like Brock Lesner, Albert, Chuck Palumbo, Scott Norton, and Stan Hansen to name a few, are finding as much, if not more success as they had in the states, rising from mid-carders to main eventers in some cases. Also Japan welcomes back their own native sons after less than stellar showings in the "e" with open arms. Who knew TAKA Michinoku, Kaz Hayashi, or even....yes...Kenzo Suzuki would be featured so prominently back in their own home land?
While Doi, SHINGO, and Morishima are dominating RoH right now, it is not as surprising as most would think. After all RoH is touring Japan soon and the talent exchange is beneficial on both parts. Fans aren't likely to tune out, stop attending shows, and boycott DVD's just because an American isn't holding the belt. TNA will still try to keep close ties with New Japan for future endeavors, and WWE wrestlers won't stop ripping off moves. As American wrestling starts to become more of a hybrid of all styles around the globe we will see more and more of this Japanese flavor hitting our rings. I wonder if we can trade the ECW Nitro Girls to Gwen Stefani for her girls? Someone get her on the phone...STAT!!
Coming Up Short
I gotta admit, Tomko beating Samoa Joe was a bit retarded. I can understand where they are trying to go, but if Joe jobs, which I think he will, in his title match, this will hurt his momentum. At this point it appears as if TNA is just turning their wheels and the payoff just isn't there yet. With WSX folding, now is the perfect time to bring one or two of those wrestlers in if possible and revamp the X-Division. It's clear that spot-spot-explosion-spot could at least capture a few more viewers, but right now TNA is not stepping up to the plate. I think more or less TNA has given up on the next month of television as no doubt Wrestlemania is at the fore front of all wrestling fan's minds. But at least they could try some things out and prepare for the slump that tends to follow WM after wards. I'm not sure how certain that extra hour is coming to them, but if they don't do something fast, the viewers they were hoping to just retain will have to be replaced by the ones they may somehow attract with the expanded format. And not taking care of your loyal fan base because of mismanagement of talent and God awful storylines, is simply coming up short.
6 Degrees of…
jihad may be banned from 6DO after this one...
being champion of 6do is a great honor and one i take great pride in. for my selection i chose the greatest manager of all time, who happened to manage the greatest faction of all time, 3 count. thats right, the man, the myth, the legend, David "tank" Abbot. im drunk right now and thats the best i could think off
Boy, that Tank sure did love to dance. I could see that working now, if they ever brought back the Mexi-Cools they could have had JBL managing them...comedy gold. Well we just can't hook up "Tank" to just anyone. I think we'll stick with the Tank theme however and hook him up with one of the "Sherman" variety...
Fire in the hole!! No, that wasn't a Lita reference. This "Sherman Tank" was better known as George "Bitch betta have my money" Jefferson. A man who also loved to dance...and punch people in the face. Poor Wheezie. Alright folks, get to it...6 full degrees.
Whatchu talkin' bout readers?
Wow, maybe WSX did do it's job after all:
hey can you tell me what some of the better pwg shows are? im a pretty big fan of what i've seen from the human tornado. gracias.
Zack Theander
Well Zack you can't go wrong with the Battle of Los Angeles 2. That and All-Star Weekend 3 and 4 would be my picks. If you are looking for a good Human Tornado match I would probably suggest Hollywood Globe Trotters or basically any of the first few shows of 2007. He's no work rate fanatic but the man has charisma oozing from his pores like gravy off Trevor Murdoch at a Hometown Buffet. Mmmm....Gravy.
So I guess the Asian bitches ain't enuff for you people:
Yo Bayani:
It's been awhile since I sent you any e-mail. As always, you do a great job in your articles. Dude, I discovered the best looking white chick ever:
www.cocosworld.com
A beautiful white chick with BOOTY???????
Holy cow?
she also has some stuff on youtube, just type in "ice-T and CoCo" and you get one clip promoting her DVD thingy and DAMN!!!! She GOTZ BOOTY. Please, she's not Asian but I think all of your readers would like to a see an "honorary" pic of a "white" bitch that be looking good.
Bayani, keep up the great work kid!!!!
Larry Tenelanda
Look Larry, as much as I'd LOVE to provide a LINK TO A PIC OF THIS VANILLA BADUNKADUNK I just don't know if that would be the right thing to do. This IS after all a family column. But diz-ZAM that is one crazy phat a$$ on that white girl. Damn, we haven't had an ass that big in this column since Andy Milonakis wrote in. I just wonder which one is more full of shit though?
6 Degrees Results
Honorable Mention
So I'm sitting here bored at work 'cause no one came in due to the storms, so I thought I'd get a head start on this week's 6DO. Here is this week's entry:
1. George Harrison was in the band The Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan.
2. Bob Dylan's son, Jakob Dylan, is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers.
3. The Wallflowers put out an album in 2000 called (Breach).
4. Breach is the name of the movie starring Chris Cooper about Eric O'Neill, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.
5. One of the most popular WWF/E wrestlers from the Soviet Union was Nikolai Volkoff.
6. In Wrestlemania I, Nikolai Volkoff and his partner the Iron Shiek beat Barry Windham and his partner Mike Rotundo, who also wrestled as Irwin R. Schyster.
Regards, Double C (Corey Cotton)
#3
Andrew Jones
Now this week was difficult:-
George Harrison, as well as being a member of The Beatles went on in later life to make and fund a number of films. One of the most famous ones was "The Life of Brian" (1979) staring John Cleese.
John Cleese went on to star in the James Bond file "Die Another Day" (2002) which also featured Halle Berry.
Halle played Storm in all 3 X-Men films, one of which was "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006) which had a cameo from Vinnie Jones.
Vinnie Jones is the co-star of the new WWE Film "The Condemned" which stars Stone Colds Steve Austin.
Stones Cold Steve Austin lost the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1999 to Mick Foley in a Triple Threat Match.
Mick Foley (under the Cactus Jack name) was part of "Sullivan's Slaughterhouse" stable in 1989 which feuded with Captain Mike Rotundo's "crew". Captain Mike Rotundo is of course the man who went on too play IRS.
Being a Brit my self I tried to throw in a few Brit legends, let see how I do this week.
Sorry Andrew, had to take off points for the Berry/Storm reference...that was the worst case of a disappearing accent since my buddy found out his "Russian Bride" was really just a chick from Jersey who needed a place to "sleep it off for a couple of days". But the joke was on her, because the even though the marriage was a fake, the herpes were veeeeeeeery real.
#2
Mark Satrang
B--
Well its a snow day here in the great midwest where I am at, as classes were cancelled today and tomorrow, so that means spring break starts today for us and rampant drinking starts shortly...
Anyways let's get to this weeks show...
IRS to George Harrison
1) Harrison was in the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, among others...
2) My favorite Dylan song, The Hurricane references a boxer that Denzel Washington later played in a movie called "The Hurricane..."
3) Avoiding the obvious Gregory Helms reference, Denzel also plays Malcolm X in a bio pic about the man, a parody of one of X's speeches is lifted for the awesome "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" movie, starring Carey Elwes...
4) Elwes got to co-star with Andre the Giant in the Princess Bride back in the day...
5) Andre and the Million $ Man used to hang out and eventually caused the WrestleMania IV World Title tournament...
6) Million $ Man and IRS used to be pals, even beating Hulk Hogan and his disciple at WrestleMania IX...
#1.
Hey BaDo, I felt I should really get back to sending feedback again. Especially with the British theme this week. As per usual, good comedy, good bitches and unusually, great arse.
Also, who is the MTV knob you were feuding with? I saw the columns, but had no desire to try and research him. Either way, in the UK, Domingo > Him.
6 Degrees.
1. George Harrison is a former guitarist, and member of The Beatles.
2. The Beatles were a British band who famously originated in Liverpool, England.
3. Liverpool saw a visit from Ring Of Honor last year, with Nigel McGuinness losing the ROH Pure title to Brian Danielson in the main event.
4. Danielson's World title was on the line in that match, a belt which he won from James Gibson
5. Jamie Knoble was a member of WCW's Jung Dragons, and under the management of the former Kimona Wanalaya- Leia Miow.
6. Leia Miow debuted in WCW as a cheerleader for the Varsity Club- a group containing one Mike Rotunda.
Even worked in the Asian loveliness for ya!
Take care, keep up the good work!
-Luke Southworth
Man, this one made the top spot because I was JUST talking about the Jung Dragons with a buddy of mine recently. Apparently PWG is booking Kaz Hayashi for All-Star Weekend 5 coming up next month, meaning I will finally have seen every Jung Dragon perform live at an Indy show. My dreams have been fulfilled. Okay LuSo...you win. Get your thinkin' cap...or bowler on and get to work on next week's 6DO nominee.
Left Overs…
TNA is filing for divorce from NWA. NWA is getting custody of the belts and TNA can keep the studio audience. Now that TNA doesn't feel they need NWA's name to legitimize them I guess they think they can do better on their own. I just hope TNA doesn't try that "hey, uh....what's up NWA...I kind of, sort of left my Samoa Joe t-shirt at your place....mind if I pick it up....around 2 AM" deal. It just belittles us all.
Former RoH champion Bryan Danielson the next NWA Champ? That is the hearsay and innuendo thus far. Wow, so TNA uses the NWA to legitimize them, then NWA uses Danielson to legitimize them. So then it's like TNA knocked up the NWA and now they need American Dragon to marry them before the title belt is born a bastard? Man, if they can somehow get Dawson and Joey worked into this angle this just might give them a 1.3 rating. By the way....you're welcome Russo.
Big rumor of the week has Vince McMahon wanting to take over the world. There is a supposed plan to start franchising the WWE across Europe, Mexico, and Asia. Meaning Rey Misterio, Chavo, and Super Crazy could be headed back across the border, Finlay and Regal could be eating bangers and mash soon and Funaki could be going back to the land of the rising sun. Actually that is good news for Funaki as he might actually get a push. Then again, maybe not. I doubt his status on the card would change much, maybe just his finisher. How does the Pacific Rim (Job) sound?
So Kurt Angle used steroids, big deal. I believe he had a prescription after all. I mean he did have a broken neck. It still doesn't, however, explain how Chris Masters got prescribed it for his "hay fever".
Vladimir Kozlov is reportedly being sent back down for more seasoning after all the agents agreed his wrestling sucked. Leaving WWE Europe short one wrestler. Which is okay, because in the following weeks we will find out on Smackdown that not only is Jimmy Wang Yang an Asian redneck, he's an Asian redneck from Greece....OOOOOMPAH!!
So is Melina's new finishing move letting her opponent concuss themselves? If so, that's a pretty sweet move. I was hoping she would utilize a version of the Stink Face myself. She's a member of MNM so the "Chocolate Express" perhaps. She could set it up by yelling, "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands".
I hear the Briscoe vs Briscoe match tore the house down in England. Great in the ring, bad on the mic. I'm pushing for them to run a new gimmick in the states. Think about it, the "Brothers of Destruction....of the English language".
I heard Dusty Rhodes wants tag teams and a tag team title on ECW. That sounds great, I'm looking forward to all the new "Dudleys" they can create for that division. Big Dick Johnson-Dudley? They're only a commitment ceremony in Hawaii away from making that dream come true.
Random Asian Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week
Tickle your what?? Oh..."Ivories"...damn.
Pimpin' In High Places
Man, I've been in all day conferences this week. Stupid "Kaizen" blitz. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is Japan's answer to how us lazy inefficient Americans shoud be doing business. I was hoping it would be fun and whimsical like "Gung Ho" starring Michael Keaton, but it ended up being a time sucking drain of my life, like "Gung Ho" from G.I. Joe. Man, that bitch couldn't last 2 minutes in a ring with Snake Eyes. Still no time to read, just enough time to link these mugs... :
Ask 411 decides to horn in on the sweet sweet time slot that is Thursdays. Next thing you'll know he'll be rooting through the fridge to steal my lunch, mixing up my coffee mug with his Jim Beam mug, and worst of all I hate using the staff bathroom after him, he always leaves the seat down when he pees. At least that's who Small always blames it on. Hmm...
Jules lists his Top 10 Wrestlemania performers. Giant Gonzalez is #3...or so I'm guessing.
O'Dog doesn't think TNA is bringing the Goodness. Hell, they didn't even forward the e-vite to Goodness, how the hell does Goodness even know when to show up?
Fink's Payload thinks there should be a heel turn at WM. My guess is Ashley, that bitch has been waaaay too full of herself lately. "Hey look at me, check out my big titties and airbrushed cooch". Yeah, that just smacks of babyface.
HH is brought to you by the letters P, J, and T. Not necessarily in that order.
CoH is still heart broken, I'm sure, over the belts being raped by the yellow man. I'm going to be reading his column next week and so help me if one reference to the Briscoes being "pearl harbored" comes up juuuuuust once...
Threat x 3 you know, no one actually ever explained to me what the three threats are. Like is Sean a Kleptomaniac? Or is Alex a registered sex offender? Or is that other guy... I don't know...Cambodian? Yeah...Cambodians...they're the threat you just can't fully prepare for. Think about it.
Z-Cal thinks Smackdown is getting RAW's sloppy seconds and hand me down condoms. Yeah, that the kind of stuff Cambodians would give you for X-mas. If they celebrated X-mas. Heathens.
Berman opens up his Attic box. I wonder if he's going to find that crockpot he said he's been looking for.
Theo Fraser talks about his limey RoH experience. He's the ‘fresh meat' in the wrestling zone, so to speak. A word of advice Theo...shank the first guy you see. Sure, Ashish will throw you in the "hole" for a few days, but after you get out, the rest of the writers won't mess with you. I'd aim for a Heat re-capper.
D.WillyCox steels my schtick. Posting half naked pics of hot chicks in order to bump your hit count? Shameless D-Dub I'll have you know it took literally weeks to hone my craft of mixing the perfect amount of semi-nakedness with actual intellectual analysis of wrestling. Yep, 2 parts naked, 0 parts intellect.
Long weekend this weekend. PWG has a show on Saturday featuring Claudio Castagnoli, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, Colt Cabana, and new PWG Champion El Generico. Then the Alternative Wrestling Store features a 60 man 3-ring battle royal. I shit you not...go check it out. I'd love to hear back from someone who is getting their first taste of Indy wrestling and see what they think. C'mon it ain't all bad, there is always the chance of Teddy Hart showing up and moonsaulting on to the lady selling nachos. Isn't there?
